Photographers... oooo la la at DVinfo.net

Albert Baier · September 29th, 2006, 01:21 PM

So I'm shooting a wedding recently and the photographers (a husband and wife team) are running around journalist style taking various shots through the night. He's quite the sharp dresser... suit, tie, the works.. quite dapper.. she's in a short sleeve black tee shirt on black cargo pants trying to look like a photographer one may find on the set of Vogue.

Me being my usual self am running around all over the place shooting various footage. At one point a tried some friendly chit chat with the hubby and cracked a joke... not a smile.. not a single reaction... as the night is winding down and we approach the cake cutting, I get into position to catch the bride and groom feed each other...

The lady photog leans in and says "Can't we get one photo this evening without you in it?"

I'm too busy taping to respond to her and resume my position up against a plant near the wall.

jeeze...The attitudes and snobiness of these people! Why do they think they're shooting some high profile shit for a fashion magazine? Whats with the zero personality bit??

Nothing against most photogs but boy oh boy these two were a class act. You'd think they're the official photographers of british royalty.

Well...In the end I hope the three of us have some lovely photos together...(Bride, groom, and me)

Gabriel Yeager · September 29th, 2006, 01:32 PM

lol. Sounds like you had a fun night!

Michael Cassidy · September 29th, 2006, 02:10 PM

It's getting worse, it's digital togs to blame. In the good old days, a tog had 36 shots on a roll of film, he had to get 30 for the album, and was away before the speeches. Now they take hundreds of shots, most crap anyway! And have to bring the missus along!
Pees' me offer as well!

Dan Minor · September 29th, 2006, 08:52 PM

Prime examples of why I alliance myself with some really good photogs that love to work with me. We refer business back and forth and have lunch every couple weeks. I only do 15% weddings with semi-stranger photogs. It helps!

Albert Baier · September 29th, 2006, 09:37 PM

Very strategic moves Dan... You're lucky to be in those nice business arrangements with them. I'm a newcomer to the business (almost a year) so I have not developed those relationships yet. For lack of time/opportunity primarily.

How do you swing that though? In my experience, most clients reserve video and photo from two completely different companies. Unless they order both through you and you give the photo to those guys I can't see bumping into the same photographers. At least not in the NY/NJ regions where there are tons of them.

Peter Jefferson · September 29th, 2006, 11:22 PM

jeeze...The attitudes and snobiness of these people! Why do they think they're shooting some high profile shit for a fashion magazine? Whats with the zero personality bit??

((It happens dude... thing is, if they were GOOD phtoogs, they wouldnt be commenting like this, and work around "the difficulties" your pose to them. Another thing to note, is MANy outfits out there offer photo and video, especialy Photog teas of 2 or more. And for you to be shooting video when "they should have" puts a dent in their pockets. I get this quite often when high end Photog Studios have their videos rejected and the clients come to me instead. Ive had guys standing their watching (one guy even taking notes with a notepad and pen) so you will come across afew strange ones... jsut do your job and let them do theirs.. ))

Nothing against most photogs but boy oh boy these two were a class act. You'd think they're the official photographers of british royalty.

((well you see.. to me, you should be thinking along the same lines... as in THESE clients are THE most important clients you have. It will make you work harder, think laterally and give you a better attitude toward the pride in your work.
I know i get complacent, and i get lazy. I also get Photogs who piss me off to a point where i have walked away advising the clients that i have not been given time or opportunity to get the shots i would have like to have gotten. Only recently i did one with a Photog who did "all the bread and butter" shots. The poor couple wanted majority of candids and fun shots, and nothing too staged, but no, this photog not only took half an hour to take 6 photos (i kid u not.. ) but she also wasted all my time and started whicngin when i took a minute (literally) to set up a shot and shoot a 10 second clip
Funny thing is, she was over my shoulder shooting away at all my compositions.. and mine being a little more out there and artsy fartsy, would stand out form her normal shots. Another thing is that she didnt knwo her camera. Shes been in the game for years, but its a new kit... and she knew nothing about it.

Thing is though, if there is a mutual respect for space and archival requirements, then there usually isnt a problem, As an example, i dont expect a Photogorapher to step in front of my unmanned tripod'd camera during the speeches.. but they do...

As for digital. it seems the term quantity over quality is coming to the fore now. People have expectations about how many ophotos they should get and photogs have to live up to that. Even if they are crap or non eventful shots, they jsut want to live up to that quota. This puts adverse pressure on them especially for those that promise over a thousand shots for each job.

I know when i shoot stills, i let teh video guy do what he likes. I usually walk out with less than 500 shots in a day on average. 400 are albumable, 100 are gold and about 40 of those are platinum. THis doesnt include the safety shots and backup portrait shots (i always take 2 portrait shots for CS2 purposes. someone might blink, another squints, u get teh picture..
Much like video...u might shoot 6 hours raw footage, of that 2 hours is watchable, of that 10 or 20 minutes is gold...

If you know HOW you shoot, and what u need to shoot and what u need to do to get that shot, theres no need for the bullshit

In the end though, if you do treat ur clients liek royalty, theyll love u for it. But dont treat everyone else like dirt.
Ive had clients call me after their weddings to apologise for the attitude of their photogs.
DOnt think that the clients cant see this. They might be wrapped up in the time and event, but they can still see whats going on.

September 29th, 2006, 01:21 PM	#1
Albert Baier Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 56	Photographers... oooo la la So I'm shooting a wedding recently and the photographers (a husband and wife team) are running around journalist style taking various shots through the night. He's quite the sharp dresser... suit, tie, the works.. quite dapper.. she's in a short sleeve black tee shirt on black cargo pants trying to look like a photographer one may find on the set of Vogue. Me being my usual self am running around all over the place shooting various footage. At one point a tried some friendly chit chat with the hubby and cracked a joke... not a smile.. not a single reaction... as the night is winding down and we approach the cake cutting, I get into position to catch the bride and groom feed each other... The lady photog leans in and says "Can't we get one photo this evening without you in it?" I'm too busy taping to respond to her and resume my position up against a plant near the wall. jeeze...The attitudes and snobiness of these people! Why do they think they're shooting some high profile shit for a fashion magazine? Whats with the zero personality bit?? Nothing against most photogs but boy oh boy these two were a class act. You'd think they're the official photographers of british royalty. Well...In the end I hope the three of us have some lovely photos together...(Bride, groom, and me) __________________ www.digitaldreamzstudios.com

September 29th, 2006, 01:32 PM	#2
Gabriel Yeager Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Washington, NorthWest USA Posts: 788	lol. Sounds like you had a fun night! __________________ Gabriel Photography

September 29th, 2006, 09:37 PM	#5
Albert Baier Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 56	Very strategic moves Dan... You're lucky to be in those nice business arrangements with them. I'm a newcomer to the business (almost a year) so I have not developed those relationships yet. For lack of time/opportunity primarily. How do you swing that though? In my experience, most clients reserve video and photo from two completely different companies. Unless they order both through you and you give the photo to those guys I can't see bumping into the same photographers. At least not in the NY/NJ regions where there are tons of them. __________________ www.digitaldreamzstudios.com

September 29th, 2006, 02:10 PM	#3
Michael Cassidy Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tyneside U.K. Posts: 45	It's getting worse, it's digital togs to blame. In the good old days, a tog had 36 shots on a roll of film, he had to get 30 for the album, and was away before the speeches. Now they take hundreds of shots, most crap anyway! And have to bring the missus along! Pees' me offer as well!

September 29th, 2006, 08:52 PM	#4
Dan Minor Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 64	Prime examples of why I alliance myself with some really good photogs that love to work with me. We refer business back and forth and have lunch every couple weeks. I only do 15% weddings with semi-stranger photogs. It helps!

September 29th, 2006, 11:22 PM	#6
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	jeeze...The attitudes and snobiness of these people! Why do they think they're shooting some high profile shit for a fashion magazine? Whats with the zero personality bit?? ((It happens dude... thing is, if they were GOOD phtoogs, they wouldnt be commenting like this, and work around "the difficulties" your pose to them. Another thing to note, is MANy outfits out there offer photo and video, especialy Photog teas of 2 or more. And for you to be shooting video when "they should have" puts a dent in their pockets. I get this quite often when high end Photog Studios have their videos rejected and the clients come to me instead. Ive had guys standing their watching (one guy even taking notes with a notepad and pen) so you will come across afew strange ones... jsut do your job and let them do theirs.. )) Nothing against most photogs but boy oh boy these two were a class act. You'd think they're the official photographers of british royalty. ((well you see.. to me, you should be thinking along the same lines... as in THESE clients are THE most important clients you have. It will make you work harder, think laterally and give you a better attitude toward the pride in your work. I know i get complacent, and i get lazy. I also get Photogs who piss me off to a point where i have walked away advising the clients that i have not been given time or opportunity to get the shots i would have like to have gotten. Only recently i did one with a Photog who did "all the bread and butter" shots. The poor couple wanted majority of candids and fun shots, and nothing too staged, but no, this photog not only took half an hour to take 6 photos (i kid u not.. ) but she also wasted all my time and started whicngin when i took a minute (literally) to set up a shot and shoot a 10 second clip Funny thing is, she was over my shoulder shooting away at all my compositions.. and mine being a little more out there and artsy fartsy, would stand out form her normal shots. Another thing is that she didnt knwo her camera. Shes been in the game for years, but its a new kit... and she knew nothing about it. Thing is though, if there is a mutual respect for space and archival requirements, then there usually isnt a problem, As an example, i dont expect a Photogorapher to step in front of my unmanned tripod'd camera during the speeches.. but they do... As for digital. it seems the term quantity over quality is coming to the fore now. People have expectations about how many ophotos they should get and photogs have to live up to that. Even if they are crap or non eventful shots, they jsut want to live up to that quota. This puts adverse pressure on them especially for those that promise over a thousand shots for each job. I know when i shoot stills, i let teh video guy do what he likes. I usually walk out with less than 500 shots in a day on average. 400 are albumable, 100 are gold and about 40 of those are platinum. THis doesnt include the safety shots and backup portrait shots (i always take 2 portrait shots for CS2 purposes. someone might blink, another squints, u get teh picture.. Much like video...u might shoot 6 hours raw footage, of that 2 hours is watchable, of that 10 or 20 minutes is gold... If you know HOW you shoot, and what u need to shoot and what u need to do to get that shot, theres no need for the bullshit In the end though, if you do treat ur clients liek royalty, theyll love u for it. But dont treat everyone else like dirt. Ive had clients call me after their weddings to apologise for the attitude of their photogs. DOnt think that the clients cant see this. They might be wrapped up in the time and event, but they can still see whats going on.